Lake Metroparks releases 2011 visitation stats

Lake Metroparks was kept busy in 2011, entertaining more than 2.3 million visitors, a decrease of about 20,000 visitors from 2010.

The agency's Ranger Department has released its 2011 visitation figures, breaking them down both monthly and by park.

The largest crowds were seen in August with 335,352 estimated visits. This was followed by the 330,972 visits in July and the 269,474 visits in June.

As would be expected, the winter months saw the least amount of traffic. The slowest month was February with an estimated 104,393 visits. Meanwhile, December recorded 115,839 visits. Sandwiched between these two months was January which saw a bump to 127,127 estimated visits.

Advertisement

As for parks, the agency's Farmpark in Kirtland recorded 168,646 visits with Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park recording 301,483 visits.

These two and all other Lake Metroparks holdings were choked in a cloud of dust left by hikers at the agency's Chagrin River Park on the Eastlake-Willoughby line. This park last year saw an estimated 315,063 visits, keeping its No. 1 ranking intact.

Other highly used units were Veteran's Park in Mentor with 175,634 estimated visits, Paine Falls in Leroy Township with 108,523, and Chapin Forest Reservation in Kirtland with 118,961.

The Greenway Corridor foot and bike path that snakes through Concord and Painesville townships along with Painesville City attracted an estimated 141,173 visits.

At the other end of the attendance spectrum was Arcola Creek Park in Madison Township with 8,311 estimated visits. This was the only park open to general public access that saw fewer than 10,000 visits last year.

Paul Palagyi, Lake Metroparks' interim executive director, said escalating gasoline prices will likely have an impact on keeping people closer to home in 2012 and having pleasant weather also will drive the visitation engine.

"Obviously it was rough year in 20111 but when you consider how much rain and cold weather we had the numbers really aren't all that bad," Palagyi said. "I want to say that we are off to a phenomenal start this year, too, because of the nice weather."

In January and February of last year, the agency's two golf courses saw only 35 rounds of play. This year for those same two months Pine Ridge Country Club in Wickliffe and Erie Shores Golf Course in Madison Township handled "just under 1,700 rounds of golf," Palagyi said.

"And over the past two weekends every golf cart has been on the two courses," he said. "I believe that many people will simply want to enjoy spending a few hours in the evening or on the weekend visiting one of our parks which are so accessible to everyone in the county."